That makes Illinois the second midwestern state to make cannabis
broadly available. Dispensaries opened for business in Michigan
on December 1.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a legal marijuana bill into
law in June. The bill contains a sweeping criminal justice
component, expunging the records of potentially hundreds of
thousands Illinois residents who have previously been convicted
for possessing marijuana under previous laws. Up to 770,000
Illinois residents may qualify for expungement, according to
ABC News.

The bill will also proactively create opportunities for minority
business owners to capitalize on the new industry.

Marijuana prohibition began roughly 80 years ago when the federal
government banned the sale, cultivation, and use of the cannabis
plant. It remains illegal at the federal level.

Overturning prohibition is one of the few hot-button topics with
widespread support.

According to a
recent Pew poll, 67% of Americans think marijuana should be
legal, and 91% support making medical marijuana legal. Opposition
to legalized marijuana has fallen from 52% in 2010, to just 32%
as of November 15.

This article was first published in January 2018 and has been
updated. Melia Robinson contributed to an earlier version of this
post.

Alaska

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

Adults 21 and over can light up in Alaska. In early 2015, the
northernmost US state made it legal for residents to use,
possess, and transport
up to an ounce of marijuana- roughly a sandwich bag full -
for recreational use. The first pot shop
opened for business in late 2016.

Alaska has pounced on the opportunity to make its recreational
pot shops a destination for tourists. More than
two million people visit Alaska annually and spend $2
billion.

California

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana back
in 1996. California became even more pot-friendly in 2016 when it
made it legal to use and carry up to an ounce of marijuana.

The law also permits adults 21 and over to buy up to eight grams
of marijuana concentrates, which are found in edibles, and grow
no more than six marijuana plants per household.

Getting Californians to buy legal weed - rather than from the
black market - has been challenging since the law took effect,
The New York Times reports.

Colorado

AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

In Colorado,
there are more marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks and
McDonalds locations combined. The state joined Washington in
becoming the first two states to fully legalize the drug in 2012.

Residents and tourists over the age of 21 can buy up to one ounce
of marijuana or eight grams of concentrates. Some Colorado
counties
and cities have passed more restrictive laws.

Illinois

REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

Illinois lawmakers in June passed a bill that legalizes the
possession and commercial sale of marijuana in the state,
starting on January 1.

Governor JB Pritzker, who made marijuana legalization a core
component of his campaign for the governor's office, signed the
bill into law earlier this year.

Legal marijuana sales in the state start on January 1, but you'll
only be able to buy cannabis in a handful of locations initially.
Just 28 dispensaries will be ready to sell recreational
marijuana,
according to The Chicago Tribune.

For its part, Illinois is the first state to legalize marijuana
sales through the state legislature, rather than a ballot
initiative.

Maine

REUTERS/Chris Wattie

A ballot initiative in 2016 gave Mainers the right to possess up
to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, more than double the limit in most
other states.

Maine's legislature is still ironing out the details of how, and
when, recreational pot shops will open in the state.

Massachusetts

AP Photo/Steven Senne

In 2016, Massachusetts gave residents the green light to carry
and use an ounce of marijuana and grow up to 12 plants in their
homes.

The first pot shops opened in the state last year, with more to
come, reports
The Boston Globe.

Michigan

AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

Voters in Michigan passed Proposition 1 in 2018, making it the
first state in the Midwest to
legalize the possession and sale of marijuana for adults over
the age of 21. The bill allows adults to possess up to 2.5 ounces
of marijuana and allows residents to grow up to 12 plants at
home.

The law is more permissive than other states with legal
marijuana: Most allow residents to only possess up to an ounce at
a time.

Marijuana dispensaries in Michigan officially opened on December
1.

"The end of prohibition is historic," James Daly, the owner of a
Michigan dispensary
told The Associated Press. "We wanted to rip the Band-Aid
off."

Nevada

John Locher/AP

Residents and tourists who are 21 and over can buy an ounce of
marijuana or one-eighth of an ounce of edibles or concentrates in
Nevada - while supplies last. Less than two weeks after sales of
recreational weed began on July 1, 2017, many stores
ran out of marijuana to sell.

Adults in the Green Mountain State can carry up to an ounce of
marijuana and grow no more than two plants for recreational use.
The new law went into effect in July 2018. But the bill is
limited in scope. It doesn't establish a legal market for the
production and sale of the drug.

Washington

REUTERS/Nir Elias

Dispensaries in Washington have
raked in over $1 billion in non-medical marijuana sales since
the drug was legalized for recreational use in 2012.

New York and New Jersey may be next.

Kevin Hagen/AP

Since Massachusetts opened its first pot shops in November 2018,
other states around the Northeast are considering legalization
more seriously.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
made legalizing marijuana a top priority for the first
hundred days of his third term as governor, though that hasn't
panned out. New York's legislative session ended on June 19, and
the state was unable to pass marijuana reform.

And while New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy hasn't yet given up on
legalization, it's not likely to happen this year after lawmakers
couldn't reach an agreement on a marijuana legalization bill.

It's possible that New Jersey residents will vote on legal
marijuana as a ballot initiative in 2020.

While the federal government under President Trump is no friend
to marijuana reform laws, it's likely that we'll see action from
Congress - with a Democrat-controlled House - easing tax burdens
and banking restrictions on marijuana businesses and expanding
access to medical marijuana next year.